Five Jayhawks Win Singles Draws At KU Invitational

Sept. 23, 2012

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Four different Jayhawks grinded out three-set victories Sunday, as the Kansas women’s tennis team capped an impressive performance at the KU Invitation by winning five of the tournament’s eight total singles draws.

Juniors Claire Dreyer, Paulina Los and Dylan Windom, senior Victoria Khanevskaya and freshman Maria Jose Cardona all needed three sets to each win an individual singles title in the season-opener at Jayhawk Tennis Center. Kansas had a total of six players play for a singles title, as sophomore Maria Belen Ludueña fell in the finals of Draw B to Kansas State’s Karla Bonacic, the nation’s No. 69-ranked singles player, 6-1, 6-0.

“Every day, we came out and we saw a lot of good things throughout the whole tournament,” head coach Amy Hall-Holt said. “Having six players in the finals of their bracket is pretty exciting.”

Dreyer topped Kansas State’s Ivana Kubickova to take Draw E, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, while Windom overcame a one-set deficit to snatch Draw F from the Wildcats’ Amina St. Hill, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Los only needed two sets to beat Giada D’Ortona of Texas-Arlington in the finals of Draw D, 6-3, 7-6(4). Khanevskaya, meanwhile, began her final year at Kansas by taking down South Dakota’s Yamini Reddy in the finals of Draw H, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Cardona won the Draw C final in a battle over Wichita State’s Carla Venticinque, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4, making her Kansas debut in style as the tournament’s only player to go undefeated in both singles and doubles play over the weekend. Along with her singles title, Cardona paired with junior transfer Haley Fournier in doubles to win the Draw B final over teammates Dreyer and freshman Anastasija Trubica, 8-2.

“You don’t always want your teammates to be playing against each other, but for both of them to be in the finals is exciting,” Hall-Holt said.

The Jayhawks finished the KU Invitational with a combined record of 47-22 in both singles and doubles play–five of those losses came in the form of injury-related defaults.

Windom and senior Monica Pezzotti, who form the nation’s 25th-ranked doubles team, rolled through their first two opponents in doubles Draw A before Pezzotti suffered an undisclosed injury that forced the duo to retire two games into Saturday’s semifinal.

Pezzotti also withdrew from singles play and settled for a fourth-place finish in Draw A, but she is expected to recover in time to travel with Windom for the ITA/Riviera Women’s All-American Championships, which begin Oct. 1 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Windom and Pezzotti are currently set to play in the qualifying doubles draw at the All-American Championships. They are also listed as alternates for the main doubles draw, where Windom and then-partner Ekaterina Morozova made a memorable run to the quarterfinals a year ago.

The rest of the Jayhawks will continue fall play Oct. 5-7 when they head to Williamsburg, Va. to compete in the William & Mary Invitational. Tune into KUAthletics.com for further up-to-date news and match results throughout the season.

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Kansas Invitational Results Day Three

Singles

Draw A

Third Place: Slijeprevic (ASU) def. Pezzotti (KU) Def.

Draw B

Championship: Bonacic (KSU) def. Ludueña (KU) 6-1, 6-0

Draw C

Championship: Cardona (KU) def. Venticinque (WSU) 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4

Draw D

Championship: Los (KU) def. D’Ortona (UTA) 6-3, 7-6(4)

Draw E

Championship: Dreyer (KU) def. Kubickova (KSU) 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3

Draw F

Championship: Windom (KU) def. St. Hill (KSU) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3

Third Place: Stavrianakou (UMKC) def. Fournier (KU) Def.

Draw G

Third Place: Borau (KSU) def. Trubica (KU) 6-4, 6-2

Draw H

Championship: Khanevskaya (KU) def. Reddy (USD) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

Draw I (Round Robin)

Third Round: Barnthouse (KU) def. Kraijic (USD) 6-2, 6-2